Electric aeg lamp



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. M. BALL.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

No. 314,418. Patented M21124, 1885.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

0. M. BALL.

ELECTRIC 'ARG LAMP.

No. 314,418. Patented Mar. 24, 1885.

Ill 2 IIIIII/II/I/I N. PKTERS PzwwLium m m-r, Wuniugion. v.0.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

G. M. BALL.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

No. 314,418. Patented Mar. 24, 1885.

UNITED States Fas est.

()rrroa CLINTON M. BALL, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATIQN fo T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLINTON M. BALL, of Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Electric-Are Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

In an application filed by me January 1884, Serial No. 118,674, an electric lamp is described in which the carbonholder and the mechanism that controls thefeed are supported by a spring, and this spring serves to draw the are between the carbons, and magnetism is employed to regulate the feeding mechanism. I do not herein lay claim to any of the devices or features of invention set forth in that application.

In my present invention I make use of a spring to partially counterbalance the weight of the carbon-holder and the feed mechanism, and I allow the carbons to remain in contact when the lamp is not in use, and I lift the carbon-holder to draw the are by the magnetism developed by the current in the main line passing through a helix of low resistance, and I use a second helix of fine wire in a shunt -circnit, and instead of winding the electro-magnets differentially, as heretofore usual, I wind the helices in the same direction, so that when the resistance in the light, circuit increases and the current through the shunt-circuit is augmented,the magnetism de veloped is augmented, and such increase of magnetic force causes the withdrawal of a triotion-brake and allows the carbon-holder and carbon to descend and lessen thelength of the are. This feeding operation is very delicate, and the feed is reliable and the light steady.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation with the plates and rods constituting the circuit terminals partly in section. Fig. 2 is a section at the line 00 00. Fig. 3 is a diagram of the eircuitconnections, and Fig. atis a see tional plan below the line y y.

The carbon-holder A carries the upper carbon, B, and the holder 0 the lower car-bond). The frame E hangs from the lower plate, F, and thisis connected with the upper plate,G, by thescrew-rods H II, the plates being kept apart by the side pieces, I1 There are, however, insulating washers, as shown in Fig. 1,

so that the binding-post at the end of H connects electrically with the lower plate, F, of the frame F, and lower carbon. The positive binding-post connects through the inner coarse wire of the helices K K with the up per plate, G, carbon-holder A, and upper carbon.

Upon one side of the carbon-holder Athere is a rack, a, gearing into a pinion, Z ,and upon the shaft 0 of this pinion there is a wheel, 0, and this gears to the pinion (Z upon the shaft d, and the wheel (Z on this shalt (Z gears to a pinion, c, on the shalt e, carrying the friction-wheel c. The shafts e (Z 0* are supported by side frames, f and f, and there is a top frame, (j, and a bottom armature through which the carbon -holder A passes freely. There are screws from the frames ff 9 to the collar or hcadZ around the carbon-holder, and there is a second collar, Z, or head around the carbonholder, the latter being held and adjusted by the screws m passing through the top plate, G. A spring, Z, surrounds the carbonholder A between the collars Z and Z, and the parts are adjusted so that the carbon-holder gearing, frames, and

connected parts will always descend by gravity when not acted upon by magnetism. Across below the frames ff and connected to them there is an armature composed of the two plates of iron, h h, attached to the connecting-piece li of brass. These plates h and 7/ come near to each other at their inner ends, and their outer ends are below the cores a of the electro-magnet, and are guided by the scre -studs a and move freely up or down thereon. The heads of these screw studs it, however, limit the downward movement of the armature and gearing, and prevent the armature moving too far from the magnet. There is a brake-lever, 0, beneath the brakewheel 0, the same being pivoted at 5, and there is a spring, p, and a turn-button and shaft, 6, with a cord to such spring by which the pressure of the brake-lever on the wheel can be adjusted. This brake-lever carries the secondary armature 1', near the inner ends of the plates h h, forming the main armature, and there is a set-screw, 8, to prevent the secondary armature actually touching the plates h h.

2 ale r18 The helices of fine wire R are wound in the same direction as the helices K, and they are in a shunt, one end of the wire being attached to H and the other end to H.

When the lamp is ina condition of inaction, the carbons are in contact, and the armature h h is below the cores n of the magnet, in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. \Vhen the electric current is turned on, it passes from the binder l through the rod H to the helix K, thence to the top plate, G, and by the carbon-holder Ato the upper carbon, B, and from the lower carbon the circuit is completed through the frame E, lower plate, F, and tierod H, and binding-post The magnetism developed by the current in the helices K and It is sufficient to draw the armature h it up against the cores n and lift the gearing, frame, and carbon-holder A. and establish the are between the carbons. The frame and gearing are held in this elevated position so long as the lamp continues to operate. In drawing the are the resistance developed diverts a large portion of the currentthrough the helices R of fine wire and in proportion to the resistance in the are, so more of the current passes through thefine-wire helices It and the magnetism developed is augmented. The armature-plates h h being in contact with the cores of the electro-magnet, become highly magnetized, and their contiguous ends form the N. S. poles, and the secondary armature r is attracted by such poles. The magnetism developed at N. S. will be in proportion to the current passing through the fine-wire helices R. The tension of the spring 1) is to be so adjusted that the magnetism of N. S. will draw down the secondary armature r and liberate the friction-brake when the desired maximum length of arc has been obtained, so as to cause the carbon to feed by gravity, and in so doing the resistance of the arc is lessened and the magnetism of N. S. diminished, so that the brake is again made to hold the brake-wheel until the arelengthens by the consumption of the carbon and the operations are repeated. It will be apparent that when the current is turned on and passes through the helices K and the carbons, the magnetism developed by such helices K is at its maximum, and that the magnetism from K will lessen as the are is increased, while the magnetism from the helices It is augmented by the increase of are until it becomes sufficient to liberate the brake and allow the carbon to feed. There is also an adjustable trip,

10, beneath the back end of the brake-lever 0,

the object of which is to prevent the contact of the brake with the wheel 0 when the arma ture h h descends in consequence of the diminution of the magnetism when the current is cut off or otherwise, so that the upper carbon is free to descend into contact with the lower carbon. The brake being thus relieved when the lamp is not in use, insures the prop er positions of the carbons, and facilitates the adjustment of the parts when a fresh carbon has been inserted. This trip prevents the possibility of the main circuit being broken when the lamp is not in use, hence the circuit is closed through the carbons ready for the lamp to be started by turning on the current, as aforesaid. It will be evident that the pe riphery of the wheel 0 may be serrated and the lever 0 may have one or more teeth to act upon such serrations, these being the equivalents of the frictional surfaces.

In place of the guide-studs a, the cores a may be connected with the armature-plates and slide vertically within the helices as solen-' oids.

All the novel patentable devices herein shown or described are my own invention. The following, however, is believed to be a correct summary of the same.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with carbon holders and feed mechanism, of an electro magnet having two separate helices wound upon the core or cores in the same direction, one being in the main circuit through the carbons, the other in a shunt, the feed mechanism being controlled by the magnetism, substantially as set forth.

2. The armature-plates h h, and the frames 9 5 ff g, and gearing connected with the same, in combination with the helices K R, cores n, and studs a, and the secondary armature and brake-wheel, substantially as set forth.

3. The frames ff g, gearing and carbon- ICO holder, in combination with the spring Z, the collars] Z, and the adjusting-serewsm, for partially counterbalancing the weight of the parts, substantially as set forth.

4.. The combination, in an electric lamp, of a carbon-holder, a train of gearing connected with the same, a brake-wheel, and a movable frame carrying the gearing, an electro-magnet, an armature-brake supported upon the movable frame, and an adjustable spring I [0 whereby the frame is moved to draw the arc, and the brake-wheel is liberated by the action of the electro-magnet when the maximum magnetism is developed, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the electro-magnet and carbon-holders, of the armature h h, the gearing and brake-wheel supported by the same, the brake-lever 0, and the trip 10, sub stantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 3d day of April, A. D. 188%.

CLINTON M. BALL.

XVitnesses:

G110. T. PINOKNEY, WILLIAM G. Mo'rr. 

